Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all having a wonderful and relaxing winter break! We had a busy last week of school......lots of learning, testing, coughing and sneezing!  Rest up and feel better, everyone!

Here are some pictures from the week.  

Mrs. Orr read one of Ms. Gilbert's favorite stories to us and brought us yummy treats! Kids-tell your families what Opus wanted for Christmas.

On Grinch Day, Mrs. Keck saved the day! Since Ms. Gilbert lost her voice she came and read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to us!

Chip played a word work game with Zero the Hero's helper, had some trouble with toilet paper, pretended he was Olaf and got taped to the window by the Grinch. Don't worry, our kindness impressed the mean green guy so much he ended up being a pretty nice guy after all.

Snow Day was so much fun! We read Snowzilla, wrote alliterations, played a minute to win it game and enjoyed hot cocoa and "snowballs" while we watched Frozen! 

Thank you families for sending in supplies for Snow Day! We couldn't have done it without you!

See you in January.

Ms. Gilbert

Chip Has Been Busy......

And so have we!

We took our VLT's (Volusia Literacy Tests) this week and all worked very hard! First graders had a field trip to the museum, we all practiced computer programming and we finished up our letters trying to persuade Santa to hire us as one of his elves. 

Chip was busy too! 

He tried to help Ms. Gilbert out by making copies for her. He decided using the copy machine was harder than it looks!

He also helped us decorate by making a Christmas Tree for us. It looked very pretty but he had a little trouble with the sticky tape!

Chip also made himself into a snowman because he hung out with Frosty one night at the North Pole. 

Being a snowman made him want to bring us some snowballs from the North Pole. Apparently Zero the Hero double dog dared him to throw one. You can see what happened next!

All of the snow must have made Chip sick because he didn't leave us a note on Friday. This is where we found him. 

We sure hope he feels better soon! 

Next week will be fun but we will still have lots of work to do. We have to take our VMT's (Volusia Math Tests), will be finishing up our weather unit in science and our changes in America unit in social studies. 

  

Here is our schedule:

Monday - Gingerbread Day. We will be reading and comparing the many different versions of the Gingerbread Man.  

Tuesday - Grinch Day. We will read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Wear green!

Wednesday - Polar Express Day. Remember to bring in something to share about your favorite holiday custom.  

Thursday - Snow Day. Please sign and return the permission slip if you give your child permission to watch Frozen with us! Wear your pajamas! 

Friday - No School! 

I am looking forward to our fun week of learning next week!
Ms. Gilbert

Hour of Code

For STEM today we practiced coding like computer programers do!  Here are the links to the two FREE apps we used on the iPads today.  They can be done on computers, too!

http://lightbot.com/hoc2014.html

http://www.thefoos.com/hourofcode/

Ms. Gilbert

Fantastic Fun Learning

We had a great week. After having 5 days off for Thanksgiving we were ready to learn! On Monday our Elf on the Shelf arrived.

He came with a book, a letter from Santa and a writing activity for us. We each had to think of a name for him. We wrote our suggestions and gave a reason why we thought it was a good elf name. We put our suggestions back in the bag and the elf took them to Santa. The next day Santa sent his four favorite names back to us. They were Jingle, Jolly, Chip and Elfie. We all voted and chose to name him Chip. (Since Santa likes chocolate chip cookies!) 

Chip was as busy as we were this week. 

On Thursday he left us magic elf seeds. We planted them and we must have been REALLY good because they grew into candy canes!

We were also very busy writing letters to Santa. We are trying to persuade him to hire us as his elves. The letters are fantastic. Santa is going to have a very hard time choosing new elves!

We learned about the sun and its energy. Special UV Light Beads helped us learn about the helpful and harmful effects of the sun. 

This week we are going to build solar ovens as a STEM Project. With everything we learned about the Sun's energy I bet they are going to cook yummy treats!

Reading Counts News: we have all earned our first award!!!!!!!!!!!!  WooHoo! That is a HUGE accomplishment. We were the second class in the ENTIRE school to have 100% of our class earning an award. I am very proud of our hard work in reading!

First Graders don't forget to return your permission slip so you can go on our field trip to the museum!

Ms. Gilbert

iPad Learning

This week we used the iPads to help with our cooperative learning projects. We researched The Sun, The Moon and Stars. After recording the information we found on tree maps, we created a Popplet.  (Parents: This is a great app and can be used in sooooo many fun and educational ways!  Best part---There is a free version!) 

The next day we shared what we learn with the class!

We earned grades by listening, speaking, sharing research, and recalling information we learned....all without taking a test. 

Created with Padlet

The disguised turkeys that were returned were fabulous!  I can't wait to start our opinion/persuasive writing pieces next week.  If you forgot to turn your turkey in, be sure to bring it to school on Monday.

Next week is a 2 day week. There will be no homework. Please return your homework menus and library books by Tuesday.  Tuesday is a early release day. Dismissal is at 1:05. 

Have a great weekend!
Ms. Gilbert

We have sailed back to our classroom!

We are officially back in our freshly painted classroom. I don't have many pictures from the week but we stayed very busy learning while we were in the portable. 

We finished up our science unit on Earth's Surface and it's Resources. 

We learned about veterans in social studies. 

We also read The Littlest Pilgrim to practice summarizing stories and learn how to figure out the central message of a story. 

Look for a fun homework project that will be coming home Monday. 

Have a great weekend. 

Ms. Gilbert

Word of the Week.....Flexible

We are learning to be flexible this week!  The painters are ready to begin painting the classrooms.  Our room is first on the list!  So we are not in the painters way we will be moving to a portable for a couple of days this week.  I have moved our necessary supplies and materials to our new space and instruction will continue as normal (as much as possible).   If possible, please try to have your child at school before 7:45 on Wednesday so they can walk to our temporary space with us.  If they do not make it to the cafeteria before 7:45, no worries!  I will be asking a couple of Safety Patrols to help us find our way!

Don't forget to return your library book Wednesday.

Enjoy your Veterans Day!
Ms. Gilbert

Special Classroom Visitor

We had a special visitor this week. We earned Chiefie last week because of our fantastic lunchroom behavior! Here are some of the things he did with us!

Chiefie got to wear the special "Read Between the Lines" glasses to help him make inferences. 

Second graders practiced adding 3 and 4 double digit numbers....with regrouping by using the decomposition strategy. 

We investigated rocks.

We also learned about North American Indians this week. We created messages using symbols like they did. 

 

I hope Chiefie had a fun week wih us. I know I did!

Ms. Gilbert

October Pictures

October has been a very busy month!  A few notes and reminders before we get to the pictures!

• If you forgot to return your October Homework menus Friday, please turn them in this week.
• November Homework Menus will be coming home Monday.  Remember to keep them in a safe place until the end of the month!
• Please wear sneakers  EVERY day for safety.
• Make sure to check and sign your child's planner every night.

Columbus Day Voyage

STEM: Build a boat that can float and hold cargo!

Halloween masks a very kind lady made us!

First Grade Field Trip to the Fire Station











Second Grade FrankenFUN Day

On the 50th Day of School we learned about the 1950's.  We also learned about half...since we are half way to 100!

I agree with Nia!



























Here is what we will be learning about this week:
Reading - Making Inferences
Math - Place Value (first grade)
         - Adding 4 Double Digit numbers (second grade)
Science - Rocks
Social Studies - North American Indians

Ms. Gilbert

Storybook Character Pumpkin Contest

Attention First Graders!

It is time for First Grade's Storybook Character Pumpkin Contest!  Here is the letter we sent home, incase you missed it.

Follow the links below for some ideas or check out our pictures from the last few years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx-LwFSKhdQ

http://www.schooltube.com/video/749da5c05acc1185ad24/Pumpkin-Book-Characters-2010

http://imbloghoppin.blogspot.com/2011/10/character-pumpkins.html

Our goal is for families to have fun with this OPTIONAL project.  We encourage families to help with the pumpkin, but please make sure the pumpkin is mostly completed by your first grader.

Have Fun!
Ms. Gilbert